The present invention is directed to systems and methods for cleaning and/or replacing emitter points of electrical ionizers.
Electrical ionizers are used to control static in clean production environments, such as in disk drive manufacturing facilities. The ionizers typically have pairs of emitter points to which charges are applied. The positive and negative emitter points are spaced apart in an air passageway through which air is passed by a fan. Examples of ionizers known in the prior art include those available from Charleswater of Canton, Mass., such as the "Neutralizer Plus," the "High Output Deluxe Overhead Ionizer," the "High Output Overhead Ionizer," the "Bench Top Ionizer--Ion Pump," and the "Neutralizer Jr. H/O" ionizers. The high voltage on the emitter points causes dust, dirt and various contaminants in the air to collect on the emitter points. However, the contamination build-up on the emitter points in ionizers used for electrostatic discharge control is detrimental to both performance and the balance of the ionizer output. Accordingly, a continuing maintenance program to keep the points or pins clean and the units operating efficiently is typically recommended by the ionizer manufacturers and employed by the users.
Various methods of cleaning emitter points are known in the prior art. One method requires that the ionizer unit be turned off and small brushes be inserted into slots in the unit and manipulated to brush-clean the emitter points. Some units have built-in sliding or rotating brushes which can be actuated by turning a built-in knob for example. These methods, which clean the emitter points while still in the ionizer units, often do not thoroughly clean the emitter points. Also, the dirt and debris removed from the emitter points during this cleaning process can be spread into the work environment thereby contaminating the sensitive (electronic) work products, such as computer disc drives.
Another prior art cleaning method requires that the ionizer unit be opened and the dirty emitter points (or pins) removed (using pliers typically), cleaned and reinstalled. This necessitates that work at the station of that ionizer is disrupted for a period of time during this cleaning process. Additionally, since the emitter points are very small, they are often lost or misplaced during this cleaning process.